The battle for the win in Race 2 for the FIM Supersport World Championship at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” was decided on the penultimate lap during the Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round as Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) beat Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) on the penultimate lap.

A BATTLE UNTIL THE END: Aegerter denies Baldassarri

Italian rider Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) got the better start and moved into the lead at Turn 1, but ran wide at Turn 4 and dropped down the order before fighting back, allowing Baldassarri to take the lead as Aegerter also ran slightly wide. Aegerter had to make his way past Yari Montella (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) which he duly did at Turn 4 on Lap 5 to move into second place. After that, he set his sights on Baldassarri at the front of the field and first made his move for the lead on Lap 12 at Turn 4, before Baldassarri responded at Turn 14. On Lap 17 of 18, Aegerter made his move at Turn 11 to claim his seventh consecutive win in WorldSSP and becoming the first rider to have at least seven wins in two different seasons, having taken 10 in 2021. It was also Yamaha’s 125^th win in the class and their 33^rd podium.

Baldassarri claimed second place for the fifth time in 2022 but will take confidence from the fact he was able to match Aegerter throughout both races, with the Italian now on seven podiums in his rookie campaign. Bulega finished third after making a move on Montella at Curvone on Lap 5 to move into third place, where he remained for the rest of the race. The Aegerter-Baldassarri-Bulega trio have finished in that order for the fourth time, the first time this has happened in WorldSSP.

INSIDE THE TOP TEN: best result for Triumph in 2022

After showing strong pace throughout the round, Stefano Manzi (Dynavolt Triumph) claimed his best WorldSSP result with fourth place after battling up the field from ninth on the grid; the result also marks Triumph’s best result of the 2022 season since returning to the Championship. He finished more than two seconds clear of Turkish star Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) in fifth and Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing) in sixth; Caricasulo ran wide at Turn 1 on Lap 11 but was able to battle back for sixth place.

Montella ended up in seventh place after the 18 lap race after a late-race battle with teammate Oncu, with the Italian finishing more than 4.5 seconds clear of compatriot Mattia Casadei (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) in eighth place, matching his result from Race 1 at Misano as his joint-best WorldSSP result. He fended off a late charge from Frenchman Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) in ninth while Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura WorldSSP) rounded out the top ten after bouncing back from his Race 1 crash.

TAKING HOME POINTS: completing the top 15

French rider Andy Verdoia (GMT94 Yamaha) was 11^th, less than a second clear of Estonian rider Hannes Soomer (Dynavolt Triumph) in 12^th. Soomer had to battle with Swiss rider Marcel Brenner (VFT Racing) in 13^th after he dropped down the order from his grid slot, finishing just three tenths behind Soomer. Peter Sebestyen (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) was 14^th ahead of Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki); in a show of how strong Huertas’ rookie campaign has been, 15^th is his lowest finishing position of the season with the 2021 WorldSSP300 Champion a regular top-ten contender throughout 2022 so far.

HOUSEKEEPING: to note from Race 2

Oli Bayliss (BARNI Spark Racing Team) and Unai Orradre (MS Racing Yamaha WorldSSP) crashed at Turn 14 on Lap 4, with both riders retiring from the race. The FIM WorldSBK Stewards would investigate the incident after the race. Luca Ottaviani (Altogo Racing Team) also retired from the race on Lap 11. Leonardo Taccini (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) was another retirement after completing 11 laps of the race. Tom Booth-Amos (Prodina Racing WorldSSP) did not take part in the race after he was declared unfit with a right wrist fracture following a Race 1 crash; an incident which Bahattin Sofuoglu (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) was penalised for with a back of the grid start and a Long Lap Penalty in Race 2. He finished in 18^th place.

The top six following WorldSSP Race 2, full results here:

1. Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha)

2. Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) +0.338s

3. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +6.460s

4. Stefano Manzi (Dynavolt Triumph) +7.824s

5. Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) +10.379s

6. Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing) +11.024s

Fastest Lap: Nicolo Bulega, Ducati – 1’37.671 (New Lap Record)

1. Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) 195 points

2. Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) 141

3. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) 104

4. Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) 80

5. Glenn van Straalen (EAB Racing Team) 63

6. Yari Montella (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) 62

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